Merry Christmas, Ayumi
by IHKF
Summary: Ayumi invites Conan to spend Christmas with her but he's running a little late. Ayumi silently starts to ponder their relationship.


"Where is he?"

21 year old Ayumi sighed, lying back on her couch as she stared out the window, a mug full of hot chocolate being clutched securely in her hand. He had promised her. He swore on his Sherlock Holmes collection that he'd be there.

But now he was hours late.

Could he be on a case? Was he once again taking all of the glory for himself and not calling the rest of the crew?

Did he walk out the door, pass by a book store to get that new mystery novel that came out and forgot where he had been going in the first place?

Or worse… had he simply decided to stay at home? Had he decided to help keep Kogoro out of the beer? He always did that. He always put others above her. Everyone she could think of has come before her at least once. It's like he was always trying to avoid spending alone time with her. Was she really that horrible?

Her heavy breathing, her attempts to stop the tears she knew were coming masked into Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" that played on the radio. Where had he gone? What was he doing? Was he even thinking about her?

She smiled sadly as she dug her head into the sleeve of her turtle-neck.

That was who he was, it was what he did. Maybe she wasn't cut out for this after all. Maybe she should grab a hold of some respect for herself and invite somebody else over- drop him like an anchor. Her blue eyes slowly looked towards her home phone that sat there waiting to be picked up. Who would she invite?

Mitsuhiko…? No. He was with Haibara this Christmas.

Genta…? No, he's out of town visiting his girlfriend's family for the holiday.

Agasa…? No, he's with a friend in another country.

Haibara…? Ayumi rubbed in between her eyes as she remembered she was with Mitsuhiko… she already knew that!

Oh! Right! She knew exactly who to call!

Ayumi paused, staring down at the number she just pressed in.

Conan's number was dialed and she was calling already.

Her eyes narrowed. _What am I doing? I've already called him three times today._

She pressed the off button, setting the phone back down as she slumped back against the armrest. Why? Why did he have so much control over her? Why couldn't she turn away?

Because she and Conan were destined to be together.

She laughed bitterly, pressing her arms up against her forehead as her other laid across her stomach. What had she been thinking all of those years ago? Destiny? Between her and Conan? Hah. That's a child's hope for you.

Haibara always told her that she could do better. And Ayumi knew she could- she just didn't want to. Conan was what she wanted. A number of, although very few, perfect boys asked for her hand to the prom. She rejected them under the promise Conan made to take her.

He didn't show up.

She was sick of it. She would never tell him, but she was sick of him always leaving her behind. She was sick of him always solving cases on his own. She was tired of him always being a hero.

Didn't he know that she would gladly follow him if he let her?

Ayumi's eyes slowly started to drift together, her body suddenly felt weak. She was sick and tired, period.

_**LoVeY LoVeY LoVeY LoVeY LoVeY LoVeY DOVEY! ;P**_

_What __**is**__ that…? Cinnamon?_

Ayumi opened her eyes very leisurely, very hesitantly as she searched the room.

There was a faint sent of cinnamon and candy canes flowing about in the air. The lights of the room were turned on and the Christmas tree, which she had been waiting to decorate with Conan, was dressed up and ready for New York City.

_What the…? Did somebody break into my house?_

"Well it's about time you woke up."

"CONAN!" Ayumi nearly bounced out of his lap when she saw his face above hers. He winked, that cocky, toothy smirk on his lips. "Hey there, Ayumi!" His voice was playful, more so than usual. "What are you doing here?"

"What do ya mean? You invited me over to spend Christmas with ya, didn't you?"

Ayumi took a couple of seconds to look down at the situation she was currently placed in. Conan had placed her while she had still been asleep into his lap, placing her red blanket with the golden rimming above the two of them.

"Well yeah but, what were you doing while I was asleep?"

"Nothing really. I just decorated the Christmas tree, made some cinnamon bread, then came back and waited for you to wake up?"

"What were you doing while waiting?"

"Watching how cute your face was when I took a feather out of a pillow and wiggled it under your nose."

Ayumi gasped, a blush crossing her cheeks rapidly.

"How long were you waiting?"

"About an hour."

She searched around the room for her grandfather clock. The time was 8:00 at night.

"Conan…"

She was speechless. Never in all of the years that she had known this man did he ever do something this sweet for anyone. "Why did you do all of this?"

"I haven't seen you in a while. I missed you."

Just hearing those words fall off his lips made her question if this was really him. It made her question if he was really who he said he was.

Suddenly, her eyes drifted over to a tiny gift clad in gold wrapping paper with a red ribbon tied around it. She looked up at Conan questioningly, who only smiled in response and nudged his head in its direction, signaling her to open it long before he told her to. "Open it."

She slowly reached down, taking the tiny box in her hand. Her heart raced. Did he get her what she thought he did?

"I remembered you said you wanted a necklace or a charm bracelet from that one store. Something with a magnifying glass charm on it to represent that you're my friend."

Her smile grew wider as he said that, racing to unwrap the paper, eager to see the necklace of diamond her bought for her. Conan chuckled silently as she got to the black box and smirked as she opened it.

Ayumi's eyes widened and sparkled, and suddenly, she could focus on nothing but that one gift that she held in the palms of her hands.

His voice came from her side where he sat.

"Of course, I decided to take it one step further and got something that showed you were a _little __**more**_than that to me."

"C… Conan…"

Her eyes drifted back and forth from him to the tiny box.

Conan reached down and gently took the diamond ring from the box, ever gently placing his hand over hers to lift it. All the young woman could do was stare as he delicately placed the engagement ring on her finger and as he gently pulled her closer, kissing her cheek. "Merry Christmas, Ayumi."

'_**Ayumi wouldn't realize it until years later, but on the inside of the ring, you could see the words "to my destiny" carved with great care.'**_


End file.
